Young guns fire blanks as tennis revolution gets put on hold

LONDON--Milos Raonic admits his chastening Wimbledon semifinal defeat against Roger Federer shows the next generation of wannabe stars still have work to do before they can overthrow the establishment.

Raonic and fellow young gun Grigor Dimitrov have long been the most highly regarded of the group of gifted prodigies hoping to end Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray's decade-long domination.

With both marching impressively to their maiden Grand Slam semifinal appearances this week, while Murray and Nadal both bowed out earlier than expected, there was a growing feeling that a revolution was brewing.

But those hoping to see some fresh faces holding aloft the sport's biggest prizes will have to wait a little long after the old guard re-established their supremacy at the All England Club on Friday.

Raonic, 23, was clinically dismissed by Federer as the 17-time Grand Slam winner cruised to a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory just hours after Dimitrov, 23, came up short on the big points in his 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (9/7) loss to top seed Djokovic.

It was a savage but potentially valuable experience for the pair, and Canada's Raonic hopes they will lick their wounds and return stronger and wiser.